Sen. Bill Nelson came to UF on Monday for part of his fact-checking tour as chairman of the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging.
Nelson toured UF’s Aging and Rehabilitation Research Center, where he met with UF experts for a Q-and-A session.
Marco Pahor, director of the Institute on Aging, informed Nelson of the major research being done, specifically on how a sedentary life and obesity can be counteracted to give senior citizens a higher quality of life.
Pahor said UF’s studies on independence and mobility in the elderly should be completed by the end of the year. He said increasing mobility is a key factor in giving a higher quality of life to seniors.
“People who lose mobility have a 40 percent higher health care cost,” Pahor said.
Pahor and Nelson agreed Florida was an ideal place to be conducting this project.
“We all know Florida is a booming place for seniors,” Pahor said.
Nelson is the third senator from Florida to become chair of the Special Committee on Aging. He said his major goals are to enact Medicare reform and end Medicare fraud.
“Tens of billions of dollars are lost to taxpayers from Medicare fraud,” he said.
Nelson will continue his tour in Tallahassee, where he will visit the Claude Pepper Center.
He said as he continues his tour of Florida, he feels optimistic, as he sees the changes being made from the new health care law he voted in two and a half years ago.
“It’s working,” he said.
Sen. Bill Nelson banters with Marco Pahor, director of the Institute On Aging, and other UF experts as part of his roundtable discussion for his fact-checking tour across Florida targeted at Medicare and aging reform issues.
